KUWAIT: Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Al-Sabah said a new draft law would organize e-media, but regretted current laws failed to license e-media. He was speaking in a seminar on Tuesday night about a bill prepared by the Ministry of Information for the regulation of e-media. The seminar is co-organized by the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) and Kuwait Journalists Association (KJA). He said the new bill would guarantee rights of anyone wishing to establish a professional media organization.

Sheikh Salman said e-media, social media and information technology have been dominating media scene over the past five years, which required a law to organize them and regulate commercial expansion. He said the information ministry believed in the responsible freedom, which makes sure there are preservation of national unity and intellectual property. Sheikh Salman said a three-day debate was held in the parliamentary education committee with the participation of specialists regarding the draft law. The e-media bill, he added, did not include the personal media, blogs or social media. "Our goal is the national interest," he said, and added that the bill did not include twitter account holders.

Fatma Al-Azmi, director of PAAET's Public Relations and Media office, said information technology has reached the peak which made the world a small village. She said e-media should be discussed in a technical and professional manner in order to maintain "our social and economic principles." Al-Azmi said the e-media has been influential at the political and social arena. Heba Al-Taweel, of KJA's training committee, said the bill that was referred from the government to parliament has created a controversy among the users. MP Mubarak Al-Harees, during a discussion panel during the seminar, said the e-media law did not include any new penalties.

He said the lawmakers would not tolerate any article in the bill that violated the constitution, citing a law that allowed citizens to contest the laws before the Constitutional Court. Former MP Dr Hassan Johar said he believed in the importance of organizing any new sectors, including the e-media which has been mostly used by the youth. The draft law, he added, should be examined thoroughly before being finally approved. Mohammad Al-Awash, information assistant undersecretary for media planning and knowledge development, said the e-media law has been a necessity in order to address the alien ideologies targeted the youth. - KUNA